


*discontinued* we're family. [& no you're not alone] (penny parker)

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony Stark, Because I Said So!, Drug Abuse, Everyone Is Alive, Female Peter Parker, Fluff, Harley Keener Flirts Too Much, I'll add more tags as the story goes on, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Infinity War never happened, May Parker (Spider-Man) Dies, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, aka our girl PENNY!, and i refuse to accept endgame, every one is happy & alive & living together in the compound, im so sorry, neither did endgame, no beta we die like men, set a few months after homecoming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-02-16 11:48:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18690880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: this story is discontinued due to me rushing storylines and overall not being happy with it, but i'm rewriting it with the same plot and everything, so go check that out! it's called "maybe everything will be okay (penny parker)"*lowercase intended (title + summary only)*everything you have can be gone in an instant.penny parker knows this better than anyone.when she faces a tragic loss, she thinks she's all alone,her new family proves her wrong.





	1. kinda sorta just an intern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter, yay!

"Yes, May."

"You're sure?"

Penny sighed, opening her suitcase up and showing it to her ever-worrying aunt.

"I have clothes, my suit, my toothbrush, my laptop, and literally everything else I'll need for a four-day trip. Yes, May, I'm absolutely, 100% positive. Can I please go now? Happy's waiting, and he's mean when he's grumpy." Penny said with a fake pout, making her aunt laugh.

"Isn't that man always grumpy?"

Penny shrugged, "Pretty much, but still."

"Alright then," May pulled her into a tight hug and rested her head on top of Penny's, "you be good, okay baby? And call me if you need anything, literally anything. I don't care if I have to leave a meeting to give you advice on what top to wear, my girl is more important than all these hospital people combined. Alright?"

Penny giggled and squeezed her aunt before pulling away. "Alright, May. But I have been dressing myself for over eleven years now, not to brag or anything."

"I know, baby." May said with a smile, "Jesus, really, only eleven years? God, I sometimes forget that you're, like, four."

_"May!"_

"Sorry, sorry! Okay, I'll let you go now, be good, no patrolling after two, no leaving the country, and try to relax a little bit? No carrying the whole world on your shoulders, at least just until Tuesday. Deal?"

"Deal."

A loud honk sounded from outside, making Penny roll her eyes.

"Okay, I really have to go now. Bye May, larb you!"

"Larb you too!"

And with a slam of the front door, Penny was off. She really couldn't believe it. May, on her mission to become head nurse at the hospital, had to attend a four-day training in Pennsylvania. She had turned the opportunity down at first because, much to Penny's disagreement, fourteen was 'much too young' to stay home alone for a few days.

So, Penny did something that she really hated doing. She asked Mr. Stark for a favor. Of course, he instantly said yes, but Penny couldn't help but feel guilty.

 _He doesn't want you staying at the compound, idiot_ she thought to herself. _He just feels bad for you. He just cares about Spider-Girl. He just-_

Penny's train of thought was cut off by yet another honk.

Cursing to herself, she quickly ran to the bottom floor, out the door, and into the car of a very unhappy looking Happy Hogan.

"Jesus Christ, kid, I thought I was gonna grow old out here."

Penny smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Happy. You know how May is, she had to double-check everything seven times."

Climbing into the backseat, Penny quickly got comfortable. The four-hour car ride from Queens to upstate had felt like forever the first few times she'd gone, but it really didn't bother her too much now. This trip made her more nervous than her past visits, though. For one thing, she was going to be staying there for four whole days. The most time she'd ever spent there before was just spending the night after working in the lab too late. To add another stressor, this was her first time meeting all the Avengers. Well, if you exclude fighting with them/against them in Germany.

 _Shit_ , she thought,  _do they even know that I'm Spider-Girl?_

Picking up her phone, she called Mr. Stark

"What is it kid, aren't you supposed to be driving up here right now? Lemme guess, Happy didn't show?"

"No, no Mr. Stark he came, and yeah I'm in the car right now. I just, I kinda had a quick question if that's okay..?"

"Yeah, sure, kid. Go for it."

"Uh..did you tell the Avengers that I'm Spider-Girl?"

She heard Tony's voice soften, "Nah, kid, I thought I'd leave that one to you. You don't have to tell them while you're here, though. I mean, not if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I think I want it to stay secret for now, if that's fine."

"Sure."

"Okay, thanks Mr. Stark, see you soon!"

"Bye, kid."

Penny took a deep breath, then squealed and leaned forward to Happy.

"Happy, can you believe it? I'm meeting the Avengers today! All of them! At once! Oh my God, Happy, it's gonna be so cool and they're gonna be like  _"so you're Stark's intern?"_ and I'll be like  _"yeah"_ and they'll be like  _"cool."_   Oh my GOD, Happy, the Avengers are gonna call me cool! Can you believe it like-"

She was cut off by Happy grunting and putting the backseat divider up.

"Rude!" she scoffed. She grabbed a book out of her bag and started to read, but found herself quickly drifting off.

\-------

"Hey, wake up, I'm not carrying your stuff."

"Huh? Oh, hi Happy. Are we here?"

"I thought you were a genius or something."

"Love you too, Happy," Penny said, sarcastically, as she grabbed her suitcase from the floorboards.

Looking around at the compound was always amazing. Just the sheer size of it, alone, plus the huge buildings and green grass, it was really something to behold. When Penny reached the door, she knocked, expecting Tony or Pepper to answer it as usual.

"Everybody come down here, pizzas here!" a female voice yelled inside, before opening the door to reveal Penny standing there.

Natasha acted quickly, grabbing Penny by the wrist and slamming her up against the doorframe.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" she demanded, but she was cut off before she could finish, 

"Nat! Why the hell is my intern in a headlock?" a voice that Penny immediately recognized asked.

"Intern? Oh, shit-" Natasha quickly released the younger girl, "Sorry about that." She held out a hand, which Penny shook. "I'm Natasha."

Penny gave her a smile, "I'm Penny, uh, I'm Mr. Starks intern...but you already knew that...sorry."

The two stepped back inside, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Everybody, this is Penny Parker, my intern. She's staying here for a few days because her aunt is out of town and frankly, I really need some help in the lab right now. Penny, this is everybody."

Penny gave everyone a friendly smile, which faded when she saw Steve.

_Ugh, I forgot that he would be here. Even though he doesn't know that it was me in the suit, he's still not my favorite person. At all._

"Uh, I'm gonna go put my stuff in my room, if that's cool?" Penny asked, and Tony nodded in reply.

"Her room?" Bruce asked, and the rest of the group looked equally confused.

"Yeah, sometimes she stays late working, and she lives in Queens, so she has to sleep somewhere," Tony said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

There was a short silence before Steve spoke up.

"Ohh, I get it, it's his kid!"

Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement, while Tony looked flustered,

"No, no, nope. Not my kid. Really, why is it so hard to believe that she's my intern?"

"Tony, we weren't born yesterday. And she kinda looks like she was. C'mon, when did SI start hiring high schoolers, much less whatever she is?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "She's in high school, she's 14. She's just...vertically challenged."

"She's like 4 feet tall."

"She's 4'11" and 3/4, actually. God, why do I know that? Okay, you know what, that's not the point. She's my intern, she's staying here for a few days, try not to traumatize her too much. Okay?"

"Yes, daddy Stark," Natasha said, making everyone laugh, and an exasperated Tony leave the room.

"Really, though, what's up with her?" Nat said, "She seems so familiar."

"It's her voice," said Cap, "I've heard her voice before somewhere."

"We'll figure it out eventually," Bruce said with a shrug, and the rest of them nodded.

And they did. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave comments, I thrive off of advice :) I have so many ideas for this that I'm excited to write! XO


	2. of nightmares and late-night escapades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! Before I started chapter two, I wanted to thank you all SO MUCH for getting this story over 250 reads in less than 24 hours! I was totally not expecting that. A special thanks to everybody who left a comment, y'all have my heart and my eternal gratefulness. XO

_You're trapped._

_You can't move._

_You're going to die._

_Everyone else is going to die._

_And it's your fault._

_It's all your fault._

_Useless._

_Worthless._

_Pathetic._

Penny awoke with a gasp, throwing the sheets off of her. 

The first thought that came to her mind was:

_I have to get out._

The nightmares had gotten worse ever since homecoming night, but really, she'd always had them. Nightmares because of her parents, then Skip (the thought made her breath hitch. Those nightmares were the worst of all), then uncle Ben, and now they mostly focus on all the near-death experiences she's had in her fourteen years of life. Whenever she woke up in the middle of the night, which was basically every night, she did the same thing. Patrol. 

Sliding her clothes off and her suit on, she could feel herself relax. Being Spider-Girl was her way of detaching from being Penny because right now, she really did not want to be Penny. She smiled when she saw that the bedroom window didn't even have a screen on it. _Too easy,_ she thought to herself.

She opened the window and swung down, ran across the grass, and onto the road. 

"Hey, Karen?"

The A.I's voice came to life, surrounding Penny in the suit. 

"Yes, Penny?"

"Don't tell Mr. Stark, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Penny, but according to the ‘Sleepy-Time Spider’ protocol, I am required to inform Boss if you engage in any combat after three am."

Penny rolled her eyes, "Okay, Fri, but what if I don't engage in any combat? Like, if I don't hit anyone or get hit, then it doesn't count?"

The A.I hesitated, "Technically, I would not need to inform Boss of that. However, I strongly suggest that you go back inside, your blood sugar is extremely low and you're suffering from sleep deprivation."

"Yeah, okay, Fri. I think I'll be fine for a little bit. Thanks, though."

And with that Penny swung off, stopping a few muggings and catching a man running away with a woman's purse before she could barely even remember what her nightmare entailed. Tired and satisfied with her work, she swung back to the compound.

When Penny scaled up the wall and climbed through her bedroom window, she certainly didn't expect the light to be on.

And Mr. Stark sitting on the edge of her bed.

And the rest of the Avengers (and Pepper) standing around her room with various degrees of worry showing on their faces.

But that was exactly what happened.

And just her luck, she had already pulled her mask off. 

"Uh...hi everyone..." Penny said, looking around nervously.

Everyone's heads snapped towards her, and Tony immediately stood up.

"What the hell were you doing, patrolling so late? You barely even know this city, what if you had gotten lost? Do you have any idea how irresponsible that was?"

"Mr. Stark, I can explain, I was just-"

"Nuh uh uh, the adult is still talking. I get woken up, in the middle of the fucking night by the way, with Karen telling me that no, you aren't asleep, you're out in the middle of the night running around trying to be a hero. Listen to me, Penelope, you are a hero, yes, but you're a kid first. Why can't you understand that?!"

"I'm not a kid..." Penny mumbled,

"Oh! Oh yes, you absolutely _are_ a kid, Penny, you're fucking fourteen! I'm supposed to be watching you for four days, and I will not return you to your aunt dead or maimed, do you understand me?"

She nodded, staring at the floor.

Tony sighed and left, with everyone following, clearly uncomfortable. The door closed without a word, but in the hallway, Penny could hear Steve scream, 

"She's Spider-Girl?!?"

Penny sighed, ignoring the yelling that was going on outside. Her breath was shaky and she could feel her chest tightening.

_Good job, idiot, now they all hate you._

_The Avengers just saw you get scolded like a toddler._

_You're pathetic._

She quickly wiped away the tears that she didn't realize she was crying. 

_Pathetic._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for putting our girl thru so much pain aw:( But fluff is soon, I promise! Please comment your thoughts on this! Thanks for reading, XO


	3. (no longer) secret identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OVER SIX HUNDRED HITS IN TWO DAYS! Thank you all SO much!

Penny didn't sleep all night. She felt like she was suffocating, and her stupid inner monologue wouldn't stop berating her. She couldn't stop thinking about how badly she had messed everything up.

She decided that in the morning when everyone undoubtedly hated her, she would just give Mr. Stark the suit and go home. What was the point in keeping it when it's creator and her mentor didn't want her to be around?

At six am, Penny got up from where she had been sitting, slouched against her bed, and started to walk to the kitchen. She figured that she'd just grab something to eat and leave without a fuss. She could catch a cab or something. She just wanted to go before anybody was awake.

She walked into the kitchen but stopped when she saw Pepper sitting at the table, drinking tea.

 _Duh_ , she thought to herself, _obviously, she's awake, she's the one productive adult here!_

Before Penny could say anything, Pepper stood up and smiled.

"Good morning, Penny! Why are you up so early?" 

"I...uh...sorry I was just planning on getting something to eat and then go back home. It's fine though I should probably just go ahead and go now..." Penny said as she turned around to leave. Before she could, though, Pepper grabbed her hand.

"Sweetie, why do you want to leave?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Well, it's not that I _want_ to, I just figured, ya know, since everybody's mad at me and stuff..."

Peppers face softened and she let go of the younger girl's hand. "Penny, nobody's mad at you, I promise. Tony and I were worried last night, yes, but he shouldn't have lost his temper like that without giving you a chance to explain first."

Penny smiled, "Thanks, Ms. Potts."

"Of course, Penny. Why don't you go back to bed, I have a feeling you didn't get much sleep last night."

Penny laughed at the accuracy, "Nope not really."

"I'll wake you up when everyone else is up, okay?"

Penny nodded and walked back to her room, flopping on her bed. With how stressed out she had been, she had forgotten just how tired she was. Closing her eyes, she easily drifted to sleep.

\-------------

F.R.I.D.A.Y woke Penny up a few hours later with the message, 

"Penny, your presence is requested in the kitchen. Everyone is currently eating breakfast."

Penny groaned and pulled herself out of bed, "Thanks Fri. Uh, do they seem mad?"

She could almost hear amusement in the A.I's voice as she answered, "Everyone seems to be in good spirits."

Penny fixed her hair and put on a big grey Yankees hoodie over her sports bra and Nike shorts. The sleeves were four inches too long and it came down to the middle of her thighs, but she loved it. It had belonged to her uncle, and it was the one thing of his that she really clung to after he died. 

She anxiously walked down to the kitchen, where, although her eyes were on the floor, she could feel everybody looking at her. After a moment of silence, Steve cleared his throat and awkwardly asked,

"You a big Yankees fan, or something?"

Penny looked up, confused, but then remembered what she was wearing. "Oh, uh, well sorta, I guess. It's not mine, it's my uncles." she said, gesturing to the sweatshirt before correcting herself,  "Was my uncles."

Steve nodded uncomfortably and turned back to the pancakes he was flipping, and Tony sighed. "Listen, kid, about last night, it's fine. F.R.I.D.A.Y and Karen- Jesus, that's such a dumb name for an A.I- explained everything. Nobody's mad or whatever, so just sit down and eat."

Penny took a breath of relief and sat down, accepting the plate of food that Pepper offered her. "Thanks, Ms. Potts." Turning back to Tony, she asked, "Can I just ask one thing, though? Why did Karen snitch on me?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Apparently you passed out in the middle of stopping a mugging. Guy took one swing at you and you were out cold."

Penny winced.

"And it's not snitching, it's what she's programmed to do."

Penny shook her head in confusion, "That's so weird, I literally don't remember that at all."

A few of the Avengers snickered, and Clint spoke up sarcastically, "Yeah, passing out tends to do that to you."

The rest of breakfast was pretty typical, and soon enough Penny found herself working in the lab with Tony.

"Mr. Stark?"

The man looked up from his work, "Yeah?"

"What exactly did the A.I's tell you?"

He sighed and turned to face her, "That you were having a nightmare and woke up in a panic, so you went out as Spider-Girl to get some air. I get it, kid, trust me. Just give somebody a heads up before you go off in the middle of the night next time so Pep and I aren't woken up by F.R.I.D.A.Y telling us that you're passed out in an alley six miles away."

She looked down at her hands and mumbled an apology, which Tony brushed off.

"Really, kid, it's okay."

"So, I guess everybody knows who I am now."

He gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded, "Yep. Boy, was that a fun conversation to have at three in the morning. Steve was losing his mind over the fact that he almost killed you, and pretty much everybody was on my ass about recruiting a fourteen-year-old, but after two hours of yelling I think they tired out and gave up."

Penny crossed her arms, "It's his fault, anyway, he shouldn't have been trying to kill _you_ in the first place."

Tony sighed, "Penny, he and I are fine now, okay? You can't still hold that stuff against him."

"Fine. But if he ever messes with you again I'll yeet him and his dumb dinner plate into oblivion."

Tony blinked at her slowly, "You'll _what?"_

Penny laughed, "Yeet? You know, like the Vine?"

Tony shook his head at her, obviously confused.

"Oh my God, Mr. Stark, have you never seen Vines?"

He shook his head again,

A very shocked Penny picked up a screwdriver and said, "This bitch empty, _YEET"_ , throwing the tool to the other side of the lab.

"Okay, first of all, _language,_ and second, what the fuck?"

"Language? Really? God, Mr. Stark, I thought you were the cool one."

He smiled, "I'm cool! My protege thinks I'm cool! Fri, save that to the 'Itsy Bitsy' file,"

"Got it, Boss." The A.I's voice rang out through the lab.

" The _what_ file?" Penny asked, offended.

"Oh, just all the great potential blackmail moments I have of you, Spiderling."

Penny glared at him, "I will shatter you like glass." she deadpanned.

He laughed and looked down at the girl, "No you won't, I'm cool!"

Penny groaned and threw her hands up in frustration, "I'm literally never saying anything nice about you again!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffity fluff fluff fluff! Hope y'all are ready for the next chapter, it's a big one. Leave a comment and tell me what you thought of this:) XO


	4. alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some angst and feels... :(  
> Also, warning, this chapter has an M.C.D as well as mentions of self-harm, drug abuse, and alcoholism. Stay safe <3

It was quite a domestic sight, really. Penny in the middle of the couch, with Natasha on one side and Clint on the other. The three were the only ones at the compound, with everyone else off doing something or another. It was Penny's last day at the compound, with the day before being fairly uneventful. As they all sat in piles of blankets, half awake, with Star Wars playing in the background (Penny's choice, obviously), her phone began to ring.

"Huh, that's weird, it's a Pennsylvania area code." The teenager said, looking down at her phone.

Through a bite of popcorn, Natasha said, "Answer it, maybe it's your aunt calling from her hotel."

Penny clicked the green "accept" button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello, is this Penelope Parker?"

"Uh, yes, this is she."

"Hello, Ms. Parker, I'm Beth Wilson, a doctor at Allegheny Valley Hospital. I'm very sorry to tell you that your aunt had an unexpected stroke late last night and was found unresponsive with no pulse in her hotel room this morning. You're listed as her only living relative, and-"

The doctor kept talking, but Penny couldn't hear her.

She heard a strangled scream come out of herself, but she couldn't stop it.

Faintly, she could hear Natasha and Clint talking next to her, but it felt like she was far away.

_"Penny? What happened, what's going on?"_

_"Hey, hey it's okay, just talk to us."_

_"Call Tony, Clint!"_

_"Hey, it's okay Penny, here, give me the phone милаг (sweetie)."_

She knew Natasha talked to the woman on the phone, and she could feel that she was pulled into a hug. A long time later, or maybe it was just a few minutes, Penny had no idea, she saw Tony sitting in front of her.

"Hey, kid, you gotta breathe, okay?"

She felt like she was drowning. Choking on air. Like an elephant was sitting on her chest. Like she was back under the rubble, but this time it was a thousand warehouses. She made no effort to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face. Her breaths were more like little choked gasps, but she eventually evened out her breathing until it was normal except for the occasional hitch. 

Pepper walked over holding a glass of water and handed it to the girl, who accepted it with shaky hands.

"We're so sorry, sweetie. Natasha told us what happened."

Penny gasped out the first words since she learned the news about May. They were barely a whisper, but Tony and Pepper still heard.

"She was all I had left."

Penny curled onto herself, putting her head in her lap, and could feel both adults sit down next to her and put their arms around her.

"I know it's hard, kid. Trust me, I know. We're here for you, okay? And you don't need to worry about the funeral or any of the legal stuff, we'll take care of it."

Penny nodded, looking up and wiping her eyes. "Thank you."

\--------------------------

It had been five days since Aunt May died. 

The funeral came and went, Penny went through the motions, but her heart was numb. 

It had been decided by Tony and Pepper that she'd be staying at the compound indefinitely and that they'd take over temporary guardianship since May was her last living relative. Penny told them over and over that it was okay, she could just live in the apartment by herself, she didn't need to be a burden on them. She only stopped when Tony pressed her chin up to look at him and firmly said,

"Penny, we're the adults here and this is what we decided. If we didn't want to do this, we wouldn't be."

That ended her verbal arguments, but she still couldn't shake the voice in the back of her head calling her a burden. When it finally came time to go to the apartment and get her things, Penny asked if she could go in alone. The adults gave her sympathetic looks and nodded, telling her to call them if she wanted them to come inside.

Putting the key in the door and opening it, Penny saw that it looked exactly as it did when she left. 

_Of course, it does. Nobody else has been in here since then._

She walked through the apartment, filling up a backpack with important things of her aunts, as well as clothes from Penny's closet. It was summer, so she didn't technically need her school supplies, but she brought them anyway. When she walked into the bathroom, she could feel an urge popping back up from the inside of her head.

_I really shouldn't._

_I know I shouldn't._

_But..._

_Maybe it'll help._

Opening the medicine cabinet, Penny dug around until she found the two bottles she was looking for. The first was the painkillers from when May got her appendix taken out, the second was anti-depressants from when Ben died. She had taken a few of each in the past when she'd felt extra-terrible, but never became addicted.

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she dropped the bottles into her bag. Without thinking twice, she walked back into her room and popped open her jewelry box. Digging to the bottom, she pulled out a small razor wrapped in toilet paper. She dropped that into the bag as well.

_Maybe it'll help._

Her mind now clouded by these old habits coming to life, she walked into the kitchen and pulled a chair over in front of the pantry. Standing on it, she was eye to eye with the top shelf, where May put all the alcohol (and all the good snacks) so that they were out of Penny's mind and sight. Or so she thought.

The months after Ben's death were hard, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the vodka was. It helped. She needed at least a cup to feel something, because of her metabolism, but it helped. Poor May was too busy grieving to notice. Penny loved being drunk, mostly because it helped numb whatever pain she was feeling. 

She grabbed the one vodka bottle that hadn't been refilled by Penny with water. It was small, maybe only a pint or so, but it was better than nothing.

 _You shouldn't be doing this,_ her inner voice-of-reason chastised.

Penny shook her head, and whispered to herself, 

"It'll help."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was so short, I just needed to get all this new info out somehow. Leave a comment, please! I'll probably be updating again later today or tomorrow morning :) XO


	5. the difference between medicine and poison is the dose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for putting bby Penny thru so much :'( It'll get better sooner than you think, I promise!
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of drug/alcohol abuse, brief mentions of self-harm

It helped.

For the next week, at least.

Penny made sure not to "overdo" it (even though, as a fourteen-year-old, doing even the slightest bit of any of it was too much already. She knew this, but chose to ignore it.)

A pill or two in the morning, a few swigs in the afternoon, and lots of fake smiles were how Penny was convincing everybody that she was okay. She hadn't cut yet, and deep down, she was hoping that she didn't fall back into that habit. She kept the option open though, as sort of a safety net, a last resort, something to fall back on. 

She hadn't been on patrol since May died, either. 

There had been a few times that she'd wanted to, just to stop being Penny for a few hours, but Tony and Pepper had refused.

_"You need a break, kid. There's nothing wrong with that." Tony had said as he put the suit in his office. She looked at the silver case dejectedly and he ruffled her hair. "Just for a little while, okay?”_

At this point, she didn't even want to patrol. She couldn't save her parents, her aunt, or her uncle. Everyone else was just better off without her. Parker luck, right?

That brings us to today. May has been dead for seventeen days, and through all the pain and grief, Penny could feel herself getting a tiny bit better. Actually better, not just temporarily better from being drunk or high. Maybe that's the reason she hasn't cut yet, because she knows that she's actually healing, and she can't screw it up.

To Penny, she's not addicted or doing anything harmful, she's just self-medicating. It's making her feel better, so why shouldn't she?

 _Because you're fourteen! Because Mr. Stark will never trust you again if he finds out! Because if Ben, May, and your parents saw you right now, they'd be beyond disappointed!_ Her inner voice-of-reason screamed. 

Penny's thoughts were interrupted, and she quickly slid the bottle that she had been sipping from under her pillow as the door opened.

"Hey, kid. How ya doing?" Tony asked, walking into her room and sitting down at the end of her bed.

"Good, Mr. Stark, probably gonna go to bed soon, though," Penny said, careful not to slur her words.

"Bed? It's only-" he looked at his watch, "six fifteen. You feeling okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah I'm feeling fine, just tired."

He looked at her questioningly but didn't ask anything else about her strange behavior. "Well, we were all gonna watch a movie, you can come join us if you're up for it?"

Penny nodded, "Sounds good, Mr. Stark. I'll be down in five."

He smiled, obviously glad that she agreed, and nodded.

As he left the room, Penny flopped back onto her bed. While Pepper and Tony had been pretty much perfect dealing with a grieving Penny, the other Avengers usually just made her feel worse. Not that they were trying to, of course, they just all acted like she was such a _baby._ She almost wanted to tell them that she'd grieved through three other parental figures deaths already, they didn't need to coddle her so much, but she knew that would just make it worse.

Without thinking twice, she grabbed the bottle and downed the rest of it, instantly gagging. The vodka was slightly sweet and lemon flavored, but still, it burned like hell and Penny could barely stand the taste. Then again, she wasn't drinking so much for the taste, she was doing it for the results. 

Feeling light, cloudy, and a little bit dizzy, she made her way to the living room. She heard a chorus of greetings her way, and she smiled back at everyone before plopping herself in an armchair next to Natasha. She could feel the woman eyeing her suspiciously, and around halfway through the movie she stood up abruptly.

"Penny, I forgot to show you the new idea I had for my Widow Bites, c'mon, I really want you to see."

The younger girl looked at her (well, the two of her that Penny saw), confused. "Why right now, N'tasha?" 

Tony looked at Penny when she used Natasha's first name, used to her always calling adults (even those barely older than her) Ms. and Mr.

"Because I want to show you them right now," Natasha said, grabbing Penny's hand and pulling her to her feet. "We'll be back soon."

She briskly walked to the elevator and down to the floor with her and the other Avenger's rooms on it, dragging Penny behind her. 

Once they were standing in the middle of this floors smaller living room, she dropped the teenager's arm and pushed her backwards onto the couch, which Penny easily stumbled onto.

"Cut the bullshit. Right now. Why the fuck are you drunk?" 

"I-I'm not dr'nk, I'm totally sober," Penny said, attempting to sit up straight and talk normally.

Natasha shocked the girl by pulling her hand back and slapping her across the face. Penny felt her left cheek heat up and she instantly grabbed it.

"What the fuck? Why'd you do that?"

Natasha gave her a sarcastic smile. "Because one, if you were sober then your spider senses, or whatever you call them, would've warned you before I did that. Two, it shocked your system, so now you're not gonna be stumbling around and slurring like an idiot. Three, you deserve it, you're being an irresponsible brat and completely disrespecting Tony and Pepper by breaking their trust like this."

Penny sighed and slouched backward. "I know I shouldn't be drinking, I'm sorry. It just-it just makes me feel better. Everything still hurts when I'm drunk, but I don't seem to care as much."

Natasha nodded thoughtfully, "What else do you do?"

"Um..nothing. This is it."

Natasha put her hands on her hips and looked down at the girl, raising an eyebrow. "I hope you know that you are in absolutely no position to lie to me right now, молодая леди (young lady)."

"Okay! Okay, I have pills that I sometimes take. Never enough to like, OD or anything, just enough to make me feel all light and dizzy."

"You mean high. You take enough pills to get you high and drink enough to get you drunk. Do you have any idea how much this would hurt Tony if he found out?"

Penny looked down, ashamed. "I know. Are you going to tell him?"

Natasha shook her head, "I won't tell him, but on a few conditions. Every pill and every last drop of whatever you're drinking goes down the toilet tonight. And trust me, Penelope," Penny's breath hitched at the use of her full name, "you do not want to lie to me and try to hide them somewhere else. I will find out, and there will be consequences beyond me telling Tony, which I'll also do. Same goes if I _ever_ hear of you taking pills that you aren't meant to be or drinking before you're twenty-one. And trust me, you will like my consequences much less than whatever lecture and grounding combo Stark gives you. Do you understand me?"

Penny nodded vigorously, "Y-yes Ms. Romanoff. I'm really sorry."

"Good, you should be. Now come on, we're flushing all of that garbage, you're taking a shower, and you're going to bed."

Penny nodded again and followed Natasha back into the elevator.

"When we go in here, if anybody asks, you say that you fell asleep downstairs and now you just want to go to bed, okay?"

"Okay."

The elevator doors opened, and everyone turned to look at them.

"You guys alright?" Steve asked,

"Yeah, we're all good. I fell asleep while Ms. Romanoff  was looking for her Widow Bite designs, so I'm just gonna go to bed now."

All the adults looked slightly confused and suspicious but said nothing of it, instead all saying some form of "goodnight" as she and Natasha walked to the teenagers' room.

As soon as the door shut, Natasha turned to face Penny. "Get it, now. All of it. And bring it into the bathroom."

Penny quickly gathered all of the illicit materials, choosing not to sneakily hide any for later due to her sheer fear of Natasha, and brought them into her ensuite bathroom.

The older woman dumped the contents of both pill bottles into the toilet and flushed them, before eyeing the empty vodka bottle. "When did you get this?"

Penny shifted uncomfortably, "When I went to the apartment. Last week."

"How full was it when you got it?"

"It...it was new."

Natasha took a deep breath, "Penny, I'm starting to think I do need to tell Tony. If it was just a few sips, that'd be different, but you're a tiny fourteen-year-old who's probably the biggest lightweight on Earth. If you've drunk this much so quick...I don't know."

Penny's eyes widened, "No, no, please Ms. Romanoff, I won't ever drink again just please don't tell Mr. Stark. If I'm stopping right now anyway, then telling him is just going to hurt him, it won't help the situation."

Natasha considered the girl's words for a moment before nodding. "Okay, if this is it and you really stop right now, I won't tell him. But I hope you know that I am not joking when I say that I won't hesitate for a minute to tell him if you ever do anything like this again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff, thank you."

Natasha smiled at the girl, "Call me Natasha, really. I want to be cool Aunt Nat, not scary Ms. Romanoff. Well...maybe I want to be cool, but scary at times, Aunt Nat."

Penny laughed, "Okay Natasha. And thank you for today, I've been doing some really dumb stuff lately, I know. It's just hard. I mean, normally I'd be too worried that May would find out, but now that she's gone it just seems easier to do stuff like this."

"I know, Penny. I've lost people too, before. We all have. If you ever want to talk to one of us about it, you can, okay? And hey, now you need to be worried about _me_ finding out, so that's something, right?"

"Yeah, that's something. Something terrifying." Penny said, muttering the last sentence under her breath. 

"What was that?" 

"It was nothing, Natasha. Good night." Penny said with a smile, 

"Night, Penny. Sleep well." Natasha said, closing Penny's door behind her.

Penny stuck the empty bottle in a box in her closet, knowing that throwing it away would be too obvious. As she climbed into bed, she felt a warm feeling inside that she hadn't had since she'd last been with May.

Pepper was a total sweetheart, caring for Penny and helping her out all the time. Natasha, though, reminded her more of Aunt May. Supportive and kind, but could see right through you if you were lying and wouldn't hesitate to call you out. Also scary. Very, very scary.

No, Penny didn't have a traditional family at all. But her new, very unconventional and slightly dysfunctional family was starting to grow on her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fix-it and fluff to brighten the mood a little.  
> Natasha is such an overprotective aunt, my heart :')  
> Stay tuned for next chapter, b/c I'm introducing a new character that might be familiar to some of you!  
> Leave a review below, please, they make my day<3  
> XOXO


	6. it was only a kiss (how'd it end up like this?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One. Thousand. Hits. I cannot begin to thank you all enough for this amazing milestone. <3

"Penny, breakfast!" Pepper called from down the hallway, waking the girl from her sleep.

Instantly, her head ached. One thing she really hadn't thought through about drinking so much was the after effects. On top of that, she could feel something inside her yelling for its morning dose of painkillers and anti-depressants. She groaned, pulling the blanket back over her head.

Just one pill would make her feel so much better. _Why did dumb Natasha have to catch me?_   She thought. She considered asking to visit the apartment again and trying to find more, but she knew how badly that would end. Shuddering, she thought of how scary the woman was last night. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and walked to the kitchen. She started to greet everyone but stopped when she realized that there was a new face standing at the counter. The face of a very cute, very tall, teenage boy, to be exact.

"Oh morning Penny, that's Harley. Harley, Penny." Tony said,

She smiled up at the boy and walked over to him, holding out her hand. "Penny Parker."

"Harley Keener." He said, shaking her hand. 

Penny thought she was going to melt.

Right into the wood floors, she was going to become a puddle.

_He had a southern accent._

She felt herself blush as she let go of his hand.

"Harley's visiting for a couple of days, Penny." Pepper explained, handing the flustered girl a glass of orange juice.

Penny looked at him, confused. "How do you know Mr. Stark?"

"He broke into my garage," Harley explained as if that was a totally normal way to meet someone.

Penny nodded, "That's...cool?"

Tony spoke up from the living room, "And kid, I already told him your whole deal, so you don't have to go with the intern schtick."

Penny rolled her eyes, "I wasn't gonna 'go with the intern schtick', Mr. Stark."

Harley laughed, and the two looked at each other, Harley leaning against the counter, Penny playing with the hem of her shirt before he said,

"I should probably go unpack the rest of my stuff. Thanks for breakfast Pepper," Harley said, walking off.

"See, kid, _he_ calls us Pepper and Tony, why do you still refuse to?" Tony asked, walking into the kitchen.

"I don't refuse to! I just don't. It's too weird." Penny said, scrunching up her face.

"You call me Natasha," the redhead spoke up from the table, which earned her a glare from Penny.

"Thanks a lot! And I only call you Natasha because you told me to and you're scary."

Tony looked at her with mock indignation. "I'm scary too!"

Penny laughed, "Yeah, okay, Mr. Stark. Did you really break into Harley's garage?"

Rolling his eyes, he nodded. "Technically, yes."

 _I'd let Harley break into my garage any day,_ Penny thought. _I'd probably give him the key._

Tony's jaw dropped as he looked at her, and Pepper and Natasha's heads turned over. Poor Steve started choking on his water.

" _What_ did you just say?" Tony asked, and Penny's breath hitched.

"Huh? Oh shit, did I say that out loud?" Her voice getting high at the end.

"Language, and yep," Steve choked out, "you definitely said it out loud."

Penny froze. "Well, I'm gonna go annihilate myself off the face of the Earth, I'll be in my room." 

Before anyone else could say anything, she was power walking to her room, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Damn, Tony, did you really think this wouldn't happen?" Natasha asked, clearly amused.

Tony sputtered, "I- I don't, I mean why would she...she's fourteen! He's sixteen!"

"I'm two years younger than you." Pepper pointed out.

"That's different! She's my kid, she's not supposed to like boys yet! Oh my god, they're gonna kiss! They're gonna have sex! Jesus fucking Christ she's gonna get pregnant! Pep I can't do this, this whole mentor-dad whatever it is, I can't do it!"

Pepper took Tony's hand in her own, "Tony, hey, stop spiraling, it's okay. They're both great kids, they aren't gonna do anything stupid. 

Steve leaned over to Natasha and whispered, "See, I told you she was his kid."

\-------------------

Ten minutes later, Penny heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

To her surprise, in walked Harley.

"Oh, uh, hey," she said,

"Hey," he said with a smirk. God, it's like he knew she was flustered and embarrassed and he enjoyed it.

"What'd you say to Tony? He's freaking out, out there."

"What? Uh, I don't know, I didn't say anything." 

He leaned against her doorframe, "Really? Then why is he talking about 'his kid' getting pregnant and running off with 'some sixteen-year-old hooligan'"?

Penny made a face, "He said hooligan?"

He shrugged, "I was paraphrasing."

"Good word choice. And I have no idea why he thinks that. I'm not even friends with any sixteen-year-olds."

"I'm sixteen."

"You're also not my friend," Penny said, raising an eyebrow.

"My heart has been shattered, Penny Parker! Here I thought we were soulmates after two conversations, silly me."

She giggled, "You're dumb."

"You like me."

"No, I don't!" She stammered,

"You totally do, you know how I know?"

She shrugged and shook her head, and he closed the distance between them and sat down on her bed across from her. He looked her up and down and said,

"You're really pretty."

Penny scoffed, but she could feel herself blushing.

"See! I made you blush," He said in a singsong voice, and Penny smacked his shoulder, knocking him backward. 

"Oh right, I forgot you were Spider-Girl. Super strength, right?"

She nodded, "Yep."

"Cool." He looked down at his hands for a minute, "Penny, I wasn't lying."

"About what?"

"You being really pretty."

She let out a small laugh, "T-thanks. You are too. Really pretty, I mean. Well, not pretty because you're a guy, but whatever the equivalent is. You are."

He smiled, "You're cute."

"I thought I was pretty?"

"You can be both. Plus, I meant that your personality is cute."

"You're cute too."

Smiling, she scooted herself closer to him. There was a moment of silence before he slowly leaned in. She leaned in too, her heart racing. Their lips had barely brushed when her door opened,

"Penny, Tony wanted me to come get you, something about new webshoo-OH NO NO NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!" 

Penny and Harley both jumped back, but Steve had seen them clear as day. 

"No, nope, no, no, no," he repeated, grabbing Harley by the arm and dragging him out to the hallway, before closing the door and turning to face Penny in her room."

"Captain, please, it-" 

"Nope, not a word, young lady,"

"You're not my dad," Penny mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?

"Nothing, just clearing my throat."

"Mhmm. So, care to explain what was going on here?"

She sighed, "It was nothing, we had barely even started to kiss when you came in. By the way, what's with the lack of knocking?"

"You shouldn't be doing anything in here that requires knocking before someone comes in."

"Uh, changing?"

"Touchè. So, I'll knock from now on, but you definitely won't be doing any of _that_ in here."

Penny rolled her eyes, "Sir, I'm fourteen, and I've had a boyfriend before. This wasn’t exactly my first rodeo."

"Eh eh eh, I don't want to hear about it, take it up with Tony."

"What? No, Captain please, you can't tell him!"

Steve opened his mouth to say something but stopped when a loud, "You were doing _what?!?",_ from Tony came from the kitchen. 

"Well, it sounds like he just found out."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave you Aunt Nat, so you know I had to throw in some Uncle Steve.  
> I literally love writing the Avengers being over-protective of Penny so much.  
> Also, I got a message asking about this- no, Penny isn't trans in this story. It's an AU with biologically female Peter/Penny. I do love trans!Peter stories, though:)  
> Leave your thoughts in the comments (it really makes my day:))  
> XO


	7. overprotective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!  
> Also, this was written between 1:30-3am, so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes:)  
> Please leave a comment telling me what you thought!

"Well, it sounds like he just found out."

Penny threw her head back, groaning in annoyance. "I don't get why it's such a big deal, we had barely even started kissing when you came in."

"You shouldn't be kissing anyone, you're a little girl!"

"I'm _fourteen,_ and again, this was far from my first kiss,"

"It's really in your best interest to stop reminding me of that, Penny. Now c'mon," He said, grabbing her forearm and guiding her to the door.

Penny's eyes widened, "Cap, please please _please_ don't make me go out there! He's gonna overreact so much, nothing even happened!"

He looked at her sternly, but she could see a little bit of remorse in his eyes. "Penny, you know you have to go out there sometime. It's not a big deal, just go talk to him."

She rolled her eyes, "This is so dumb! Why are you acting like you walked in on us fuc-"

"Penelope." He said sharply, "Watch it."

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Now, if nothing happened, tell Tony that. He'll believe you, kid, I promise."

"...Fine."

Following Steve out of the room, Penny walked as slow as she possibly could. Reaching the room, she saw Harley sitting on the couch, Tony standing in front of him, and Pepper whispering to him, obviously trying to calm him down. Without saying anything, Penny sat down next to Harley, giving him a smile and a quiet, "Sorry."

He just shook his head with a smile as if to say, "Don't worry about it."

Noticing her, Tony turned to face the teenagers. "Well?"

"Well, what? Both of you are flipping your shit-"

"Language."

 _"Flipping your shit_ over this, for no reason! We were kissing, no, scratch that, we had barely even started to kiss when Cap barged into my room without even knocking! And now you're acting like I'm some whore and Harley's some...some hooligan!"

Harley stifled a laugh at her repetition of his word choice from earlier.

Tony started to say something but Pepper interrupted. "You know what, I've heard enough. Penny, you need to be more respectful, okay? I know you're mad, but you can't swear and yell because of it. Harley, sweetie, you're our guest, and I'm very sorry for their," She gestured to Tony and Steve, who looked shocked at the betrayal, "behavior. Penny, Harley, why don't you go hang out in Penny's room for a little while, okay?" 

The teenagers happily agreed, and as they walked away Pepper called, "Keep the door open!"

Tony turned to Pepper, sputtering. "Pep, you totally threw us under the bus! And what are you doing, sending them to her room, God knows what they're doing in there!?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at her fiance. "Tony, do you not trust either of them at all? Because that's what it seems like. You care about both of these kids so much, how can you not be happy that they're happy? Penny's a teenager, she obviously needs rules and guidelines, but you-" She pointed to Steve, "-and you, too, can't freak out and treat her like she's five."

Tony took a deep breath. "Why do you have to be so right all the time?"

"It's my specialty," Pepper said with a smile. "Now I think both of you need to talk to Penny."

They nodded, walking to the girl's room. Looking in the doorway, they could see both teenagers looking at pictures hanging on Penny's wall, with Penny probably explaining every one. 

"Hey, Pen?" Tony said, and both teens turned around. 

Harley awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "Uh, I'm just gonna go to my room..."

Tony suppressed a laugh and squeezed the boys shoulder as he walked passed.

Glaring at both men, Penny sat down on her bed. 

Steve spoke first, "Listen, Penny, I'm sorry for overreacting. Believe it or not, I'm still pretty old fashioned,"

Penny snorted a laugh, and Steve gave her a look.

"and I probably won't be used to you dating any time soon, but I'm sorry for yelling at you, and coming into your room without knocking."

Penny smiled and stood up, "Thanks, Cap, it means a lot." 

He embraced Penny in a big bear hug, lifting her off the ground, which made her giggle. 

He put her down, smiling. "Okay, I'll be in the kitchen, probably getting lectured by Pepper." He said, walking out. 

Now that it was just Penny and Tony, she looked down at the ground.

He sighed, "Listen, kid, I've never done this before. The last thing I want to do is act like my dad, trust me. I want you to be better than me when I was your age, but how I dealt with today wasn't...the best."

Penny smirked, "To be fair, what I'm doing versus what teenage you did are very different."

"Good, as they should be. Listen, you can date whoever you want, it's not my place to choose. Just...be smart, okay?"

She nodded and leaned into his chest, the top of her head barely passing the middle of his ribcage. "Thanks, Tony."

He smiled and ran a hand through her light brown hair, "You're welcome, kid."

He pulled away, holding his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, though, this isn't a free pass for you to do whatever you want with Harley, especially not under my roof."

Unable to resist the sarcasm, she said, "So you'd be okay if we hooked up outside?"

His voice tightened, "Not funny, Penny." 

"Sorry."

He continued with his speech, "And listen, if any guy-or girl, I don't really care-hurts you, they'll have Earth's mightiest heroes to answer to, and a big fat lawsuit from me just because I can. Alright?"

She laughed, "Alright."

"Now, you should really go thank Pepper, because she's the one who knocked some sense into me and Steve."

Skipping down the hallway, Penny gave Pepper a big hug and a "thank you", before making her way straight to Harley's room and knocking on the door.

When he opened it, she jumped up onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Hey," he said, clearly confused. She just smiled, "Hi,"

Then she leaned in and kissed him, her hands in his hair and his on her back. It only lasted a few seconds before he pulled away,

"What was that for?" He asked,

"We never got to finish our kiss earlier, duh!" She said childishly, pulling him back in. He gently squeezed his arms around her as he walked them over to his bed, plopping her down but not breaking the kiss. 

After a moment he pulled back, breathlessly laughing. "Pen, I don't think this behavior would be Captain America approved," he said in a mock-serious voice. 

She laughed, "Boo-hoo for him."

Using her enhanced strength, Penny found it easy to push Harley flat back on the bed. Climbing on top of him, she kept her arms straight to support her body but leaned into yet another kiss. 

Mischief in her eyes, Penny lowered her head to his neck, sucking until a small purple bruise appeared.

 _"Penny!_ If anybody sees this, you know they'll murder us both, right?"

She smirked, pointing to her neck,

"Make us even, then."

He let out a breathy laugh and flipped the two over before gently sucking and kissing all down her neck and collarbones. Before either of them knew it, the entire area was covered with several hickies.

When he looked down at her, his eyes widened at the dark purple marks.

"Oh shit, sorry I didn't realize-"

She cut him off, "It's okay, Harles, I'll just put makeup on them."

He nodded and they continued to kiss for a few more minutes before she hesitantly pulled away.

"Dinner's soon, I need time to cover these without seeming suspicious."

He nodded, grabbing her hand and kissing it as she stood up. Walking out of his room, realisation dawned on Penny.

_How the hell am I supposed to get from his room to my room without anyone seeing?_

Pulling her hoodie over her head and looking down, Penny started to walk to her room, but just as quickly as she started she found herself bumping into someone.

_Shit._

Slowly looking up, she was relieved to see Natasha standing in front of her.

"What the hell?"

"Nat, please, do you have any concealer?"

The woman nodded, "Down on our floor, c'mon." She said, leading Penny to the elevator. Once the doors closed, she turned to face the girl.

"Explain." She demanded.

"Harley. I would ask Pepper to help me, but she _just_ convinced Cap and Tony that the two of us could be trusted alone together. Please?"

"Of course, Penny. But you have to be smarter about this in the future."

Penny tilted her head in confusion.

"Hickies in places that your clothes _do_ cover,"

Penny's jaw dropped, "You aren't supposed to be encouraging that!"

Natasha shrugged, "I just did."

The elevator dinged, and Natasha quickly brought Penny into her room, closing the door. Expertly blending concealer onto the girl's décolletage until the hickies were virtually invisible. 

Looking in the mirror, Penny sighed with relief. "Thank you so much, Natasha, I really couldn't deal with two 'Penny is a whore' speeches in a day."

Natasha laughed and gave the girl a side hug, "Of course, возлюбленная (sweetheart)."

After a while, F.R.I.D.A.Y called everyone down to dinner, where Penny and Harley sat next to each other, everyone laughed and talked, and for the first time, Penny truly felt like this was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things I'm a whore for:  
> -Overprotective Dad Tony and Uncle Steve  
> -Natasha giving Penny Russian nicknames  
> -H I C K I E S  
> -Penny finally saying Tony instead of Mr. Stark :,)  
> Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!  
> Also, I really want to include the other Avengers in this, but I'm just so horrendously bad at writing them that I can't even attempt it. Any advice?  
> If you have any ideas/requests for future chapters, leave those below too!  
> XO


	8. your life isn't disposable (so stop acting like it is.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everybody who gave feedback on the last chapter! Comments are so so appreciated and honestly keep me super motivated :)  
> I'm gonna try to be uploading this at least once a day, but it may end up being a few times a week, it just depends.  
> Also, apologies for this chapter taking a few days, sometimes life just hits me in the face with a chair and I can't really do anything.  
> XO

_"Avengers, assemble!"_ Cap's voice shouted over the A.I system, waking Penny up with a start. Harley looked over at her, confused. The A.I spoke again, but this time it was Friday.

"Penny, Harley, Boss has ordered that the two of you go to the panic room immediately and do not interfere with the situation." 

Right as the A.I finished her sentence a loud bang sounded from what sounded like the floor below. 

"Shit, Penny, where's the panic room?!" Harley asked, grabbing her hand and standing up. Penny quickly walked to the other side of her room and placed her hand on a certain part of the wall, which pushed in to reveal a small panic room.

"Woah." Was all Harley could say before Penny pushed him into the room. "Stay here." She ordered.

"Pen, you're staying in here too-" He protested, but was cut off by Penny slamming the door and running to her dresser.

Tony had given her suit back a week ago, but she had only gone patrolling once before Harley came and her focus was changed. Quickly undressing and putting the suit on, she sighed at its familiar feeling. 

"Karen, what's going on?" 

"It seems as though the compound has been attacked by an alien creature from a planet I cannot identify. The team is handling it, however, and per Boss's request I need to remind you that you do not have permission to get involved."

Penny ignored her, "Fri, where is the attack happening?"

"On the floor below you, Penny. However, it is highly suggested-"

Immediately, Penny took off, opting for the stairs since the elevator was most likely deactivated. Sprinting down to the main level, she saw all the Avengers who were currently at the compound- Steve, Tony, Clint, and Nat, attacking a large, red monster that was clearly not from Earth. 

She made eye contact with Clint, who had an arrow docked and was about to shoot the creature yet again.

"Kid! Go upstairs, you can't be here!" He yelled, releasing the arrow and hitting it straight at the creatures head. Writhing in pain and letting out a gurgling screech, it stormed towards the man. Penny took this as her chance to shine, webbing the alien in the face as the rest of the team attacked him. Clint shot another arrow, this time hitting the monster's leg, and he fell to the ground, then was quickly knocked out of the window by Steve, finishing him off. 

Penny let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "That was so _awesome!"_

The four faces who turned to look at her were less than impressed, to say the least. Tony's helmet retracted as he walked towards the girl,

"Are you kidding me, Penny?" He yelled, yanking off her mask. "We told you to stay out of this, and here you are, disobeying a direct order from your commanding officer," He gestured to Steve, who had his armed crossed. 

"Are you seriously mad at me for this? I'm the one who webbed him in the face, without me you-"

"Would've finished him off just the same," Steve said, interrupting her. "We have more experience doing this than you've been _alive,_ Penny. If we say stay out of it, you stay out of it, do you understand me?"

She groaned in annoyance, "You all treat me like I'm some incapable little kid!"

"Penelope May Parker you fourteen years old," Tony said his voice dangerously quiet and sterner than Penny's ever heard it. The man barely called her anything but "kid" or "Pen", or occasionally "Underoos", much less her full name. 

"You _are_ a kid. I know you haven't had an easy life, and I know you think it's your job to save everyone, but it's not. Your life isn't disposable, Penny. Do you have any idea how guilty I," He gestured to the team behind him, "How any of us, would feel if something happened to you?"

She shook her head, eyes not leaving the ground. "I-I'm sorry..."

He looked at her and said the same words he had uttered a few months ago. "Sorry doesn't cut it." He sighed, "You're grounded for two weeks, and I'm taking the suit back until I know you can be responsible with it."

"Mr. Stark, please, I-"

"Oh, I don't think you understand how this works, kid. This isn't a debate, I'm the adult, your guardian, and this is what I decided."

Penny's voice was quiet, "What about Harley?"

"Harley's leaving tomorrow morning, anyway, Penny. You're going to go upstairs, make sure he's safe, and say goodbye now. I better not see you two sleeping in the same bed again tonight like I pretended not to notice last night, do you understand me?"

She pushed back tears that she could feel coming to her eyes. "Yes, sir. I'm really sorry."

He sighed, "I know you are, kid."

As she turned and mournfully walked up the stairs, Tony deactivated his suit and sat down on the couch, head in his hands. Looking up at his teammates, he asked,

"Did I do the right thing?"

Clint was the first to answer, "Of course you did, Tony. If Lila had done that...I don't know what I would've done."

Natasha gently put a hand on his shoulder, "You'd rather have her be mad at you than dead, Tony."

He nodded, "You're right. I just really don't want to turn into my dad."

Steve spoke up, "And you aren't. All you're doing is protecting her and making sure she doesn't keep putting herself in harm's way. You're a good dad, Tony."

"Guardian." Tony corrected, his head snapping up.

Clint and Natasha snorted, and Clint said, "I know a fellow dad when I see one, Tony, and that's exactly what you are."

Tony huffed, standing up. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He waved to the mess of the room due to the prior battle, "Somebody clean this up." He said, walking off.

 _Being a dad._ Tony thought,

_I can't be a dad, that's crazy._

_I'm just her guardian, I give her a place to live and keep her alive._

_If I were to actually be a dad, there'd be so much I'd have to do._

_I'd have to fix my shit I have with Howard still._

_Get over my issues._

_Learn how to deal with a teenager._

_All the drama, and tears, and yelling, and eye-rolling._

_It'll be difficult as fuck._

_But for Penny?_

_Maybe I'm okay with that._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly really sorry. This chapter isn't my favorite, and it's short, but I've been trying and failing to write something, anything, for days now. Depression hurts like a bitch, but I'm trying to work through it, please be patient with me.  
> Leave a comment, they make my day :)  
> XO


	9. authors note

hey everyone

ive been trying so hard to write the next chapter but life is just hitting me really hard right now.

please be patient with me, im really sorry.

i'm gonna try my absolute hardest to get a chapter to you within a few days, but i cant make any promises.

if you have any, (literally any) ideas for this story or anything peter/penny related, leave a comment, i'd appreciate it so much.

thank you all for reading this and hopefully i'll be posting the next chapter soon.

also, remember to take care of yourselves. struggling with mental health is a hard battle but you **can** win it. reach out, talk to someone. i'm always here if anyone needs to vent.

talk to you all soon

again, im really sorry.

xo, emma <3

 


	10. through texts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everybody:)  
> this is just a short fluffy textfic cause i had the idea for it!  
> hopefully you enjoy  
> and if you didn’t, i’ll try to be posting a regular style chapter later today  
> xo

**Penny** : harley

harley

harles

harlesssss

mr. keener

harleyyyy!

**Harley** : omg penny it’s 3am

**Penny** : yes

**Harley** : and aren’t you grounded?

**Penny** : have been for the three days since you left >:(

**Penny** : i miss u

**Harley** : i miss you too:(

**Harley** : is tony still like super pissed at you

**Penny** : not really he’s been nicer and more chill cause he knows i’m mad at myself for being dumb too

**Penny** : also i think his 2 weeks of being normal child grounded and “indefinitely” of being spider child grounded is enough, he really doesn’t need to yell more on top of that.

**Harley** : true

**Harley** : what does normal child grounded even mean? u still have your phone or else you couldn’t be texting me?

**Penny** : it’s so dumb i can’t hang out w ned or mj, i have to go to bed at ten, and he took my phone but not my laptop so like ??

**Harley** : ew that sucks

**Penny** : ya :/

**Harley** : so how are you texting me rn?

**Penny** : huh

**Harley** : aren’t you 1. supposed to be asleep and 2. didn’t tony take ur phone ?

**Penny** : well u see

**Harley** : here it goes

**Penny** : he didn’t do a good job hiding it

**Harley** : penny.

**Penny** : at all! so i just kinda...snatched it up while he’s sleeping and he hasn’t noticed yet

**Harley** : penny do you really think tony is asleep rn?? have you met him?

**Penny** : ...

**Harley** : also doesn’t friday snitch on like everything you do

**Penny** : oh shit

**Harley** : hA

**Penny** : omfg harley i can deadass hear him coming up here

**Penny** : ok i have to pretend to go to sleep

**Penny** : do not text me rn! or my phone will go off

**Harley:**

**Harley:**

**Harley:**

**Harley** : ok

**Penny** : Hi Kid

**Harley** : ..hi tony

**Penny** : Penny can’t come to the phone right now.

**Harley** : i figured. did her phone go off while she was hiding it under her pillow pretending to sleep?

**Penny** : Yep.

**Harley** : wHoops tell her i’m srry 

**Penny** : It’s okay Friday snitched too.

**Penny** : Go to sleep kid it’s late

**Harley** : oKaY tOnY. also?

**Penny** : Yes? 

**Harley** : dont be too hard on penny ok she feels bad already

**Penny** : I know

**Harley** : :) gn

**Penny** : Night, Kid.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things i love: textfics  
> i hope u guys enjoyed!  
> xo<3


	11. skip westcott

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of past rape of a minor, stay safe<3  
> this chapter has been highly requested, I hope you all enjoy.  
> & i'm so sorry for taking so long to upload, i'll be trying to post again saturday or sunday.  
> thank you all for sticking with this story!  
> XO

"Oh kid, by the way, I'm taking you shopping for school stuff later, so go ahead and get ready once you're done eating," Tony said, and Penny scrunched up her nose.

"School? Already?" She asked through a bite of cereal. As much as Penny didn't want summer to end, she was still grounded (much to her protest), so it'd be a nice excuse to get out of the compound. Really, though, the Avengers Compound had just about everything to do that you could possibly want, so she wasn't suffering too much. The biggest loss for Penny had been not having her suit, and she realized just how much she relied on Spider-Girl to stop overthinking and worrying so much. 

Tony nodded, "Yeah, it's August 30th, you have school on Monday."

Penny pouted, "So I'm gonna be grounded for the first week of school?"

"It's only the first three days, I think you can deal with it."

"I think I'll die!" She said, theatrically dropping her shoulders and sighing.

"Yeah, yeah, I think you'll survive. Be ready to leave in twenty, I have a meeting this afternoon that Pepper's forcing me to go to."

"Whatever, Mr. Stark, I think you'll survive." She said with a grin.

He rolled his eyes, "Go get ready, you little shit."

She laughed and went to her room, yelling, "Language, Mr. Stark! What would the Captain say?" behind her.

 

\------------

"So, what all do you need?" Tony asked.

"Umm...well I really just need a new backpack. Maybe some notebooks, pens, that kind of stuff?" 

He nodded, "Okay, I'll go get a cart, you stay here and start finding things you like." 

As Tony left the aisle, Penny started to sift through the various backpacks hanging on the wall. 

_Honestly, I'll probably end up losing it eventually, so it doesn't really matter which one I get,_ she thought to herself. She was notorious for losing backpacks, mostly due to when she was Spider-Girl-ing. Just as she went to pull a light blue one off the wall to look at it, she felt an intense, sharp tingle through her entire body. Even during missions, it was rare for her spidey sense to go off _this_ hard.

She rapidly spun around but saw no-one standing before her. 

"Jesus," she muttered under her breath, trying to shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. 

Little did she know.

"Well if it isn't little miss Penny Parker," a familiar voice hissed from her left. 

Penny stopped.

Slowly, she turned to face the voice. Looking up, she saw a face that she had hoped and prayed to never see again. The face that took her innocence and purity and crumpled them up in a ball. The face. His face. _Him._

"Skip?" She choked out, sounding much weaker than she intended.

"What, were you _really_ not expecting this? Hm, you're stupider than I remembered. Do you not remember what I promised you all those years ago?" He asked with a sneer.

 

_"I'll think of you every day, you little bitch. And when I get out, you're gonna wish you never snitched."_

 

She couldn't breathe. Or think. Or speak. _Run,_ a voice inside her said, _run and find Tony._

He must have sensed what she was about to do because she quickly felt a tight grip on her wrist. Normally, Penny could easily get out of something like this. Today, though, today was different. She could feel something stopping her, the same thing that stopped her back when she was a fourth grader.

Fear.

A fear that she hadn't known until her hands were pinned above her head, pushing her further and further into the rough carpet.

A fear that forced her to be wary around any man over the age of 35. (Except Mr. Stark, but even that took months.)

A fear that made her shake when someone got just a little too close.

Especially male teachers.

God, she hated male teachers.

Not that they were all necessarily bad, of course. But she was always afraid that she'd run into another Mr. Westcott. 

That another "afternoon tutoring session" would happen.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four times.

She was nine, almost ten. Her favorite TV show was My Little Pony. She played in the dirt, loved orange juice, had just memorized her multiplication tables and was excited for fifth grade so that she could finally be a "big kid."

Mr. Westcott made her a big kid a little early.

Those were his words, too. 

 

_"I have a game we can play, Penny. It's a special, secret game, though, okay?"_

_"'Kay, Mr. Westcott."_

_"It's just for big kids, can you be a big girl for me?"_

_"Sure, Mr. Westcott."_

 

She was snapped out of her memory as his hand dug into the flesh of her wrist. "Still a brat, hmm? I guess I didn't teach you enough of a lesson back then, did I?"

Penny started to let out a gargled scream, but he slammed one of his hands onto her neck, choking her. "Oh, princess, you don't get to call for uncle Ben again. Oh wait, I think I remember a little birdy telling me that he's dead. And your aunt too? What a shame."

She could feel her vision blurring, and every ounce of her body was screaming at her to fight back. He was squeezing tighter, and tighter, lifting her off the ground, and-

_"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER, NOW!"_

Skip dropped her to the ground, where she gasped for breath. She could feel herself shaking, and she passed out as soon as her head hit the cold tile floor.

\---------

Penny awoke in her bedroom, the bright lights hurting her eyes. Tony and Pepper were sitting in a chair next to her, and Tony stood when he saw that she had opened her eyes, brushing her hair out of her face. She involuntarily flinched at his touch, causing him to pull back.

"Hey, kid. How you feeling?"

She sat up, "Fine, I guess. Where'd he go? Is he..?"

Pepper spoke up, "He was taken care of, sweetie. You're safe now, okay?"

"Did you get him arrested?"

Tony cleared his throat, "It was handled." He said nonchalantly.

"Handled?" Penny asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means it was handled, kid, don't worry about it. He's never gonna bother you again, 'kay?"

Penny nodded, "Thanks."

Pepper placed a gentle hand on top of Penny's, "We did some research and figured out how he knew you. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Penny."

Penny looked down at her hands, "It...it was a long time ago. I don't really like talking about it."

"Y'know, kid, it might help to talk to a professional. There's nothing wrong with therapy, hell, I go myself quite a bit."

"No, really, I don't need therapy. I'm fine, I'm...over it by now. I'm fine, I just really don't like thinking about it." She explained, not even really believing what she was saying.

Tony sighed, "Okay, kid, we'll let you sleep and get you when dinner's ready then, okay?"

She nodded, pulling her blankets up further. Once they left the room, Penny let out a shaky sob.

_Obviously, I'm not okay. I haven't been okay for a long time_ , she thought.

_There's one thing that makes me okay, though._

She tried to shake away the thought.

The pills and drinks and cuts, they never worked long term.

She knew that.

_But maybe I'm not looking for long term. Maybe I just need to be okay for now, that's enough for me._

_Just this once._

_It'll help..._

_won't it?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh i'm sorry for all the whump, poor penny can't catch a break.  
> leave a comment, they make my day<3   
> XO


	12. self promo (i'm sorry)

just me poppin in to tell y'all that my new fic "the avengers have twitter (and it's a PR nightmare)" is up now!

if you like this you'll probably like it

so go check it out

please:)

xoxoxoxo

also i'm trying to think up ideas for this story bUT i kinda hate everything i've written so far and i highkey just wanna scrap it and start over

i feel like i've written penny totally wrong

idk

:/


	13. please read!

hi everybody

i'm sad to be writing this right as this story just hit 3k reads, but it's what i've decided is for the best.

i'm going to be restarting this story.

now before you get too mad at me, hear me out:

1\. i hate how i handled penny grieving for may

2\. i also hate how i'm having her struggle with depression, recovery from a sexual assult, multiple addictions, and self harm all at once. i tend to put my problems on the characters that i'm writing and it goes a little crazy sometimes.

3\. i totally rushed penny and harley's relationship

and 4. i'm just not happy with how this story is turning out. i tend to write late at night and that leads to lots of rushed chapters and rambling. i know that the re-done version of this story will probably get less reads, but i'm okay with that, because i'd rather have something posted that i'm actually happy with.

i'll be leaving this version up for everyone who has it bookmarked or genuinely enjoyed it, but i really hope that if you're reading this a/n, you'll go check out the re-done version of this story. it'll have the same storyline, just longer chapters, better character development, and overall be more realistic.

thank you so much for reading (and 3k reads!)

see you over on the re-done version (hopefully :))

xoxoxooxxo

ps- i'll probably have the re-done version's first chapter up within the next hour :)

 


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